Tsutomu Takebe, Japan's Agriculture Minister, jabs at a juicy slab of grilled steak, waves it in the air with chopsticks and pops it in his mouth. "I've never tasted such good beef!" he crows to a crowd of TV cameras and reporters at a hastily arranged press conference. Then Takebe motions to a fellow Cabinet member, Health Minister Chikara Sakaguchi, and announces: "He is a doctor, and he is going to eat it. So see, there are absolutely no problems with Japan's beef!" Sakaguchi dutifully chews and swallows. "Ah, I see now the beef is safe," he proclaims. "It's been sucked...